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The happy dropouts
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At some point in their lives, some people stop to think about where they are going. VIDYA HEGDE talks to those who have willingly dropped out of the rat race to do the things they want.
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SHOBHANA SEGU was in the media for nearly two years. She was getting paid well, and was having a good time at work. Initially. Then the job pressure got the better of her. "Stress squeezed the life out of me!" she exclaims. And one day, she decided that she had to put an end to her `no-time-for-anything' syndrome. "I quit my job because I needed time for myself, my family and friends, and do things that I had always wanted to. And there was no other way out." Shobhana is now travelling a lot and going places she always wanted to. And she has decided that she will either look for a less stressful job (when she's ready to get back to work), or freelance.
Shobhana is among the band of people who have embraced simple living. They are what the Americans call downshifters. Downshifters essentially decide to quit their jobs to earn the freedom to live life the way they want to. Some take on other less demanding jobs, and vow to lead a more fulfilling life, spending time with people they love. And others opt out of the rat race after they feel they have adequate finances to support themselves through the rest of their lives. Broadly speaking, downshifters trade a high-speed, high-stress lifestyle for a slower, more enjoyable one, living light and gearing up to life.
If you deem it crazy to give up a high paying job in a corporate giant to take on practising Pranic healing, meet Uthkarsh Mehta. This former Senior Software Engineer, an IIT postgraduate, decided a year ago that his true calling was to heal people. "I started it as a hobby since I got deeply interested in Pranic healing. But the shift came about when I realised that I could make a difference to someone's life," he reveals. Money was never the criterion, Uthkarsh says, because he had always wanted his job to be an expression of himself. He gave up his dream job, and the security it offered, when he found something "happy" to do. The struggle continues, but Uthkarsh is content being able to help people.
Making a decision to leave a stable job with assured monthly paychecks and take on something that pays less, or not at all, can be difficult. Your priorities have to be clear and firm. Like Monideepa Sahu's. Monideepa is a writer and freelance journalist who quit her job at a nationalised bank where she had been doing extremely well for over eight years. "I left my first job when my son was two years old." She left her second job with a US-based software company in Mumbai when her husband got transferred to his hometown. "His family members had requested our help and we both felt that our near and dear ones took precedence over our careers," she explains.
And that's exactly how Shireen Hussain felt as well, about her family. "I quit my job for my children. I guess it was maternal instinct," remarks this qualified ophthalmologist. Always having aspired to become a doctor, she faced initial opposition from her parents when she gave up her job at an ophthalmic hospital. "My husband was supportive both during the time when I was working and when I wanted to give it all up," she adds. Though she has never really gotten back to a full time job, Dr. Shireen has always made time to do what she loves doing: being there for her children (now grown up), and serving society. Since her husband's was a transferable job, she insisted that the entire family move to wherever was required of him. And everywhere, she made time for charity, treating people for eye ailments free of charge.
Twelve years of hard work in public relations, and Nandini Bhat has decided to call it quits. Although she has been able to balance her professional life and personal life quite well all along, she looks forward to "being able to spend more time at home and with my family. I will pursue my other interests like writing and designing, to which I haven't been able to devote any time at all due to the high pressure job."
While these people have chosen to slow down in life, it does not mean they have lost out. Rather the contrary. They have been able to successfully prioritise their needs very well realising that such a step leads to a decrease in income and a change in lifestyle. But they have accepted the compromises that have come with their quest for contentment.
Monideepa's last job was with a newspaper, about two years ago, which she gave up because of the late working hours and the toll it took on her health. "There's definitely a great reduction in disposable income. Now, we cut our coat according to our cloth. But we still have coats to wear." Nandini chips in: "With a disposable income, people are getting more and more materialistic these days. People are ever willing to work at a crazy pace to have these needs met."
And Uthkarsh feels: "Life is important!" Previously, people looked for jobs that gave them stability. First jobs were jobs for life. "These days, there is anyway no security in most jobs. Working late hours and not having time for family has become the trend." And among the people who visit him for "peace and healing", he sees an increasing number of those who want to do something they like, rather than work because they have to.
However, Dr. Shireen feels that it might take a while before the trend of giving up high profile and well-paying jobs takes root in India. "Couples these days would rather not have children or take care of families than abandon their jobs or take on less paying ones," she says. "You can't force people to spare time for one another if it doesn't come from their convictions," adds Monideepa.
It is a fact that people are spending long, irretrievable hours at work, instead of with family and friends. While certain organisations boast of work-life balance and flexi hours, what technology is providing with a work-from-home option is only adding to stress. So now people not only work at the office but at home as well!
Downshifting maybe a decision to work less and earn less. But it is a decision to live more and improve the quality of life in ways that matter. It has to come about with people valuing money and careers less, and health, freedom and family more. And realising that we work to live and not live to work. And, like Monideepa, says: "You can't put a price tag upon relationships."
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